Grate.



F. S. LIVINGSTON.

GRATE.

APPLICATION PILED IEEE. 12, 1908.

1,030,oo2 Patented June 18, 1912.

2 SEEETS-SHEET 1.

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COLUMBIA PLANOGRAFH co.. wAsHNGToN. D. c.

F. s. LIVINGSTON.

GRATE.

APPLIOATION I'ILED I'EB. 12, 1908.

1,O30,002. Patented June 18, 1912.

2 sHEBTs-SHEET 2.

witnesses F ?1 76 S. Lil/&7135 tom CDLUMBIA PLANOORAFH co.. wAsHNGToN. D. c.

FRANK S. LIVINGSTON, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

GRATE.

ma ona.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 18, 1912.

Application filed February 12, 1908. Serial No. 415,'575.

To aZZ whom it may concem:

Be it known that I, FRANK S. LIVINGSTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the County of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Grate, of which' the following is a specification.

This invention' relates to improvements in grates and more particularly to that class of grates commonly known as open grates or fire-place grates and has for its object the intercepting and saving of many of the heat units that usually pass up the chimney flue and'thus are lost without assisting in the heating of dwellings or other houses. The

grate is so constructed that air can be taken in to the grate bars and passed through the heated zone around and above the fire bed and delivered within the dwelling or house at any desired point.

With these and other purposes in view the invention comprises certain novel constructions, combinations and arrangements of parts, as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawingsz-Figure 1 represents a sectional View through a fireplace showing the improved grate in positon. Fg. 2, is a front elevatio-n of the same, a portion of the grate front being broken away to show the bars that hold the hollow grate bars in position. Fig. 3, is a vertical sectional View through a fire-place and a portion of a house showing means for directing the heated air from the hollow grate bars. to difierent parts of a house. Fig. 4, is a detail View partially in section and partially in elevation, showing a heat distributing box or header with fiues extenchng therefrom. Fig. 5, is a vertical sectional View through a fire-place showing the grate constructed with end heating drums or compartments a portion of the drum wall being broken away to show the interior Construction. Fig. 6, is a horizontal sectional view taken upon the line a-b of F ig. 5 and illustrating the use of a forced draft in connection with the grate a portion of the grate being broken away at one end. Fig. 7 is a detail view showing the clamping bars employed' in holding the hollow grate bars together.

The present invention is desgned to provide an open fire-place grate with 1ts cheer and comfort and yet render it more economical than has been heretofore possible, by

intercepting and saving many of the heat units that commonly go to waste and escape with the products of combustion that pass up the smoke flue. W'ith this purpose in V1ew, the grate is, as illustrated in the drawings, constructed with hollow bars that are extended upwardly at the rear of the fire bed and then forwardly again through the path of the products of combustion, the bars being thus capable of receving cool air below the fire and delivering it within the building in a highly heated condition for heating any part of said building.

In the drawings the principal forms of nechanism embodying the features of the invention have been illustrated and the invention will now be described with reference to the said drawings. 1 represents the grate, 2 a fire-place and 3 a chimney or other flue for conducting the products of combustion from the fire-place. As shown in the drawings, the grate surface is made up of a series of hollow bars 4, which are preferably tubular for convenience and economy of construotion. These bars extend from the front of the grate to the rear thereof and are then bent upwardly and forwardly so as to eX- tend over the fire and through the path of the products of combustion on their way to the chimney fiue. The upper ends of the said hollow bars may then be carried out of the fire-place into the room of the building, as shown in Figs. l and 2. In this manner, cool air will enter the lower open ends 5 of the grate bars and will be heated while passing beneath the fire and around the same, as well as in its continued course through the products of combustion, and will be delivered in a heated condition from the upper ends 6 of the bars within the room. The combined areas of the hollow bars will make it possible to heat a large quantity of air and thus carry back into the room hoat units developed in the fire upon the grate that generally escape with the products of combustion and are of no value in heating a building.

The bars 4 are placed close enough together to hold the fuel upon the grate in the usual manner and yet have sutficiently wide spaces between them, where they pass over the fire to offer no serious amount of obstruction to the draft required in maintaining a proper combustion of the fuel. It will be evident that the said bars may be separated more or less to suit the circumstances of each fire-place. The bars may be held with respect to each other in forming the grate, in any suitable or desired manner, but I preferably secure them in place by using clamping bars as 7 and 8, one of which may be provided with spacing means or projections 9 for separating the bars. The bars are drawn together upon the grate bars by bolts as 10. Two or more sets of clamping bars are used in forming the grate structure, though of course more may be used if desired without departing from the spirit of the invention. A set of bars is generally provided at the front of the grate and one at the rear thereof, as shown at 11 in Fig. l while a third set is placed near the upper ends of the bars, as at 12. The lower bars 8 of the clamps used at the front and rear of the fire bed are also provided with downwardly extending projections 13 and 14 which form feet or legs to support the grate at a suitable height in the fire-place. Of course it will be understood that the grate may be otherwise mounted in the fire-place so as to provide room beneath the grate for a proper draft for the fire without departing from the spirit of the invention. The upwardly extendng grate front 15 of any usual design is also secured upon the grate by the bolts 10 as shown in the drawing.

As shown in Figs. l and 2 the ntake and outlet ends of the hollow bars may be left open and free and this is generally the way the grate is made when the heated air is to be delivered in the room in which the grate is located. There are instances, however, where it will be desirable to take the air from a point outside the room where a purer supply can be obtained. For instance, as illustrated in Fig. 3, the lower ends of the hollow grate bars may be turned downwardly as at 16 and extended through the floor of the room and to any point where clean fresh air can be Secured. In this way the chance of getting dust from the floor or the grate in the pipes, is obviated. In Fig. 3 is also shown the means preferably employed for delivering heated air from the grate to other parts of a building besides the room in which the grate and fire-place are located. The upper end of the bars are connected with a box or cross-head 17, located at the upper edge of the fire-place and this box or header is usually provided with a register 18 in its front, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4:, so that some of the air that has been heated by the grate may be permitted to escape in the room in which the grate is located, while some of it may be carried to rooms above or to other parts of the building by means of heat flues 19 which extend upwardly from the said header 17. The pipes 19 may lead to registers as 20 in upper rooms, as clearly shown in Fig.

3. The heat flues 19 are generally provided with dampers 21, so that the passage of air through them may be controlled and entirely shut off when desired. It will readily be understood that in this manner an open fire-place grate can be made to heat not only the room in which it is placed, but other rooms also and other portions of the build- The grate forining the subject matter of the present invention besides being useful with a natural draft, is also well adapted for use in connection with a forced draft of any kind. When using a forced draft, the lower ends of the grate bars are all connected with a duct as 22, clearly shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings. One end of the duct may be fiared as in 23 and a fan or blower 24 of any desired form may be placed opposite the open end of the said flared portion, so as to be in position to force air into the duct 22 and thence through the hollow grate and heating bars. An ordinary electrically operated fan will be found very i convenient and effective for this purpose. The forced draft will be found very useful when the heated air is to be carried through fiues to several points in a building.

lVhile I have shown in Figs. l, 2 and 3 the grate as having heating portions merely beneath the fire bed and at the back and above the same, it will be evident that the ,grate may be constructed with end heating portions also within the spirit of the inven tion. Thus in Figs. 5 and 6, the grate is provided with end boxes, as 28 and 29 which preferably extend the full height of the grate and receive their air at the lower forward corners, as for instance by being connected with the duct 22. At the top the said boxes are connected with the transverse header of drum 30 from which the heat is distributed in any desired manner. The end drums or boxes may also be connected with each other by transverse fiues or drums, one or more in number. In Fig. 5 one large drum is shown as 31 while in Fig. 6 a plurality of transverse drums or fiues 32`are shown connecting the said heating ends of the grate. These transverse drums or flues will be in position to receive the effect of the flames and heated products of combustion from the grate.

It will be evident that the construction of the grate with its hollow air heating bars, may be varied considerably within the spirit of the invention, so long as the air is conducted around the fire and delivered in the building for heating purposes( The mode for securing the hollow bars may also be varied as any suitable clamping frames may be used for this purpose, and as shown in Fig. 7 both of the bars 37 and 38 may be provided with spacng projections 39 for holding the hollow grate bars. These bars like those described above and shown in Fig. 2, are draWn together by suitable bolts as 4:0.

Having now described my invention What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is 2- The combinaton With a fire place, of a grate made up of tubular bars extending continuously beneath the bed of the fire, thence upwardly around and over the same, so that the air entering the tubes at the bottom and passing upwardly through them collects and dverts many heat units from the chimney flue and carries the same into the building, a plurality of transverse clamping bars for holding the grate bars together, supports projecting from some of said bars, and a grate front independent of the grate bars and secured to one of the said transverse clamping bars.

In testnony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, county of Los Angeles, and State of California, this Gth day of Februar 1908.

FRANK S. LIVINGSTON.

In the presence of CAssELL SEVERANCE, E. Los BOUCHER.

copies of this patent may 'be obtaned for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

